GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers chose to invest another day Friday after they drew a line in the financial sand and ended up losing wide receiver Greg Jennings and tight end Tom Crabtree in free agency.

Sources familiar with negotiations said Jennings had an offer averaging about $8 million from the Packers before he took a five-year contract from the Minnesota Vikings that averaged about $9 million. He received a $10 million signing bonus and guarantees worth $18 million.

At roughly the same time, Crabtree accepted a two-year, $1.6 million deal from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when the Packers wouldn't budge off their one-year offer worth about $700,000.

So the Packers entered the weekend a total of $18.719 million under their adjusted salary cap of $131.326 million without two players -- a former Pro Bowler and a functional journeyman -- at two of their deepest positions.

In 2012, when Jennings was near the peak of his powers, a source said talks on a multiyear extension ended when he turned down $11 million per year from the Packers, which was far less than the $15 million that he told the team he was seeking.

Then Jennings suffered the second concussion of his career in training camp and sat out 21/2 weeks. Returning for the opener, he suffered an abdominal injury, aggravated it in Game 4 and sat out four games before undergoing surgery Nov. 1.

Jennings returned in Game 12 and finished the season, but by then he was labeled as an injury risk for having missed 11 of the previous 22 games.

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The Packers could have all but guaranteed Jennings' return by applying the one-year franchise tag worth $10.537 million.

When the club didn't, Jennings became an unrestricted free agent Tuesday afternoon and appeared eager to find a new home.

Miami seemed to be a logical landing place for Jennings, but a source said coach Joe Philbin wasn't overly high on him. Bypassing Jennings, a player Philbin had helped coach in Green Bay for six years, the Dolphins immediately jumped on Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace.

Wallace's five-year, $60 million contract averaged $12 million, had an $11 million signing bonus and $30 million in guarantees.

According to an NFL source, the New England Patriots offered Jennings a deal averaging $6 million but didn't get very far. Then the Patriots turned to St. Louis' Danny Amendola as the replacement for Wes Welker.

On Wednesday, the Patriots gave Amendola a five-year, $28.5 million deal averaging $5.7 million that contained a $6 million signing bonus.

Welker went to Denver the same day on a two-year, $12 million contract ($6 million average) that contained $4 million in signing bonus and considerable guarantees.

Meanwhile, the Vikings traded wide receiver Percy Harvin to Seattle at midweek for first- and seventh-round draft choices in April and a third-round pick in 2014.

Harvin's five-year, $67 million extension with the Seahawks included a $12 million signing bonus and guarantees of $25.5 million.

It's possible that the Vikings paid Jennings more than they would have preferred. The $45 million deal also included incentives each year for all-pro honors that, if achieved, could drive the total worth to a reported $47.5 million.

On the other hand, it was about $2.5 million on average less than Minnesota probably would have had to pay Harvin.

Besides the draft choices, the Vikings replaced a dynamic 24-year-old slot receiver-returner with off-field concerns in Harvin for a more versatile and skilled veteran who is 41/2 years older in Jennings.

In Jennings, one of four almost equal wide receivers, the Packers lost a gifted, valued performer but didn't drain their salary space.

The Packers might have dealt Jennings for a second-round pick before the Oct. 30 trading deadline but the abdominal injury probably ended that opportunity. A year from now, Jennings' departure will help Green Bay qualify for an attractive compensatory draft choice.

Crabtree, 27, chose the Bucs after receiving overtures from four other teams and having steady negotiations with the Packers. His new deal contained a modest signing and roster bonus.

The leaguewide interest in Crabtree might have surprised the Packers, who decided Tuesday not to make him an offer of $1.323 million as a restricted free agent. They wanted to re-sign Crabtree at a rate much closer to the $630,000 minimum salary for a veteran with three accrued seasons.

The Packers also used the same strategy with inside linebacker Rob Francois, and it worked. On Friday, presumably with little interest on the free-agent market, Francois resigned with Green Bay for about $700,000 for one year.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised," Crabtree said Saturday. "I didn't really think of life after playing in Green Bay. I thought I'd be in Green Bay forever. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that way all the time."

"It was a little bit of a surprise they weren't quite able to work with us," said Crabtree. "I felt I put three good years in of work, contributed on special teams and on offense, and had a lot to offer.

"I don't want to say they didn't see much of a future for me in Green Bay. But in talking to Tampa Bay, they were more excited about my future with them.

"They just stepped up and really wanted me to be a part of this team and be a part of their future plans. That kind of meant a lot to me."